Church of Santa Maria della Stella - Alcamo

According to an inscription from the 17th century, mentioned in the lower right corner of the fresco of Santa Maria della Stella, the church of Santa Maria della Stella was previously built in 1130. The church was consecrated as the mother church by the bishop on Ascension Day in May 1313 from Alcamo.

Because the city center moved further south, the construction of the new mother church dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta began in 1332. In 1402 the consecration of the church of Santa Maria della Stella as mother church ended.

In the 15th century, the Dominican friars built a monastery with a garden and a vegetable garden on the land next to the church. In 1660 the fathers left the old monastery because it was too far from the center. In 1706, the Jesuits received the concession to build a spiritual retreat house from the former Dominican monastery. The former monastery could accommodate 40 people and was from then on called "the Place of Refuge" by the residents of Alcamo.

The pointed arch portal of the church of Santa Maria della Stella is still visible.

Willem Vandenameele